hadriel_logs | [closed]

[Delmar is also getting a video message!!]

Del, do you have dinner plans tonight?

[Cue elderly man who never gets asked out by anyone so he totally doesn't see where this is going]

Oh, well I was i thinking I might try and figure out what type of vegetable this is

[He holds up an odd hot-pink squash-shaped thing]

[Oh my god way to ruin his smooth demeanor, Delmar. Harlan laughs.]

Holy shit, what is that? [It's rhetorical, since Delmar clearly doesn't know.]

Well, cool, bring it over. I'm making you dinner. Come over in an hour.

[Delmar goes a shade of bashful pink]

That'd be lovely, Harlan! I'll be there.

[A pause before holding up the bizarre vegetable again]

We'll be there.

[He snorts. Delmar was definitely a good pick for this.]

Good. It's a date.

[Delmar will arrive an hour later dressed in a favorite sweater and scarf in spite of the heat and, as per his word, carrying the large pink gourd-like specimen.

He knocks excitedly]

Harley~!

[Delmar is an adorable peach. Harlan opens the door with one hand and catches John Frusciante in the other. She has this new habit of tackling visitors on sight now that they're back in Hadriel. It's cute and all, but Harlan is pretty sure Delmar doesn't need a full-grown cat scaling his leg.]

Hey, Del. [Harlan is dressed a little better than usual, also despite the heat. He's wearing a sweater over what looks like it might be a dress shirt??????? A rarity. He has gone to great lengths for his buddy, clearly.

His apartment is also dimly lit with softly-glowing orbs scattered through the air, like little fireflies. Magic is great for hot dates.

Harlan is really fixated on this weird vegetable(?), though. He snorts. It's even goofier in person.]

Where'd you find that?

[Delmar doesn't dislike animals but nonetheless he isn't used to living around them so the cat bounding in his direction does cause him to jump a little despite the fact that Harlan quickly intervenes. However he's soon bending to try and pet John Frusciante lightly on her soft head]

Hello again, you've gotten very big, haven't you? Do you remember me?

[He then moves to shyly shuffle inside]

Well, I was running errands at the store and there it was and it s such a pretty color I just couldn't help myself--

[His voice trails off when he finally notices the lights floating around him and suddenly he's clutching the gourd to his chest as he spins around to see them, eyes wide in awe]

Did you do this?? How miraculous.

[He steps closer to one of them before looking at Harlan nervously]

Oh...will...will it set me on fire if I get too close?

[JF meows and does a dolphin jump into Delmar's hand as he pets her. Yes, she remembers!! That or she just loves attention from whoever is willing to get it. Both, maybe.]

Don't flatter her. She's doomed to be tiny forever. [Which is not untrue. She's pretty small for a full grown cat. Like father, like daughter, really.

Harlan laughs quietly as Delmar gets all enamored with the lights. It's cute how many people here are so impressed by the easiest magic. He'll never stop milking it, though.]

No, they won't hurt you. They're just illusions. Safer than candles. [And easier to come by around here. Once Delmar gets closer, he'll see that the lights looks a bit like bubbles, a warm glowing center encased in illusory glass. If he tries to touch it, his hand will pass right through, thought it'll feel a bit like passing a hand through mist.]

Hey, I should tell you. I set all this up because you're my friend and I wanted to do something nice for you, but it's part of a deal with Love, too. To get Michael back to normal. [He feels super weird about it, so it's better to disclose that detail upfront, he thinks.]

There's nothing bad about being small, Harley! Look at you, and Miss Julie, and Hayden, all of you are just the best of people.

[Its a good thing! And he's not entirely focused on what he's saying as he reaches a timid hand out towards one of the lights, gasping as his fingers seem to slip through the shimmer.

Only after he's tested it out does his attention go back to what Harlan was saying. He straightens, mouth drawing into a small frown]

Is this about what Michael was saying? About not being quite right? Can I help?

[Perhaps he doesn't know all the details or fully comprehend exactly what Michael had been telling him, but what he did understand was that it was something that must be awful]

[Holy shit. Harlan is laughing.]

Oh my god, I'm not that short. I'd be tall if I was a girl.

[He's not actually offended or anything, though. Bless Delmar for just saying shit with wild abandon.

Harlan watches, smiling, as Delmar plays with the lights. This is adorable. He'll have to teach Delmar some magic of his own sometime.]

Yeah. Love said they'll fix him, but I have to fulfill my half of the deal first. They said I needed to express my love for three people. So, don't worry, he'll be fine and you're already helping.

[Delmar, in his usual rush to be supportive, was about to comment that Harlan would make a very pretty girl, but he gets caught off guard, going still and quiet, hands held up against his chest, fingers knotted together.

'Express my love for three people'

And Harlan had chosen him as one of his people?

Harlan had told him before, at least, technically he had. In the dream. Harlan had told him then that he loved him. But still it made hearing it no less overwhelming to hear it now. He'd heard it so rarely in his life that if the words were pebbles he could hold them easily in his hands.

So now he blinks rapidly, eyes going shiny and red around the edges. Very awkwardly he reaches out, gives a small affectionate tug on the cuff of Harlan's sleeve, and tries to smile around a tightening of his throat.]

[Harlan has been so busy with the technical aspect of this deal that he forgot how deep an impact this type of gesture might have on his friends, Delmar especially. He feels a little guilty at first, both for having forgotten the weight of this and for not having been better about showing his love prior to this. If just that explanation is making Del tear up, oof, Harlan has not been a very good friend.

He sucks in a breath to steel himself, and then catches Delmar's hand before he pulls away entirely. He gently tugs Del toward him and into a hug.

It's awkward, of course. Harlan does this so rarely that he's not sure what to do with his arms, exactly, especially since Del is so much taller than him. Where does he put his head? How long should they stay like this? He's overthinking it, but hugs can mean a lot of different things. He's not good enough at this to make sure he conveys the exact right brand of affection he's going for.

So instead he tries to just... Let it happen. Delmar will understand, probably.]

[If he had had the capacity in that moment to read Harlan's internal thoughts and to form any comprehensible sentence of his own, Delmar would have vehemently argued to the contrary. His tears were proof that Harlan was...is a good and true friend and Delmar is simply dumbstruck that he of all people should find himself with such a friend. It is, in a small humbler way, akin to that feeling of just having missed being struck by a car or falling off a ledge and realizing in that moment just how valuable it is to simply be alive by seeing in stark contrast what you could have lost.

Here in Hadriel he's begun to be used to it. To the idea that he has friends. To the idea that he wakes up each morning and goes to bed each night a person who has friends, who is cared for. But still at times he views this state of being as such a delicate thing, cobweb like that might snap at any moment if too much pressure is applied, so when one of the strings trembles in a gust of wind and holds steadfast and firm, he is reminded of just how miraculous a thing it is.

He draws in a sharp, surprised breath when he is hugged, blinking rapidly and going very still at first. But then gently he eases his arms around Harlan. Of course he wants to hold tight, it's his natural instinct, but he resists, trying through his own gentleness and ability not to take advantage of this moment to show both his appreciation for this gesture and for Harlan himself.

And for that moment he is wholly joyous, down into his core.]

Edited 2018-04-06 21:46 (UTC)

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